Community Service Fair
The community service fair is held in the fall, showcasing organizations in our community for students to learn how to get involved. This year both 7th and 8th grade students met four organizations and learned about six organizations, including: Butler County Soil & Water Conservation District, Faith Community Pantry, MidPointe Library, Reach Out Lakota, Stepping Forward and Upward.
Service Organizations
Butler SWCD is a government agency whose mission is to promote the conservation, preservation, and responsible use of our natural resources through technical guidance and education. We also offer many workshops and volunteer programs to further help with conservation efforts in our own backyard.
The MidPointe Library System serves a population of almost 200,000 people in the cities of Middletown, Trenton, and Monroe and the townships of West Chester, Liberty, Lemon, Madison, and Wayne with a collection of nearly half a million items. The library offers locations in downtown Middletown, Liberty Township, Monroe, Trenton and West Chester and provides the best in educational and entertaining materials, services and programming. For more information, please visit www.midpointelibrary.org.
Reach Out Lakota was founded in 1992 by a group of three women. Our mission is to give a helping hand up to those living in the West Chester/Liberty Township area who are economically struggling due to a myriad of circumstances. Over the years, Reach Out Lakota has grown extensively. Last year, Reach Out Lakota provided 276,941 pounds of food and over 57,000 items of clothing.
The pantry has several special programs, including a Back-to-School program, Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas meals and holiday gifts. The pantry is open three times a week and serves over 120 families each month. In 2021, the pantry provided food to nearly 10,000 individuals. The pantry has over 130 regular volunteers who do the work of the pantry. Some of the key volunteers have been at the organization for over 15 years and new volunteers join the team monthly. We receive great support from the community to serve the community.
Food Pantry: Our food pantry is a choice pantry which means people get to choose the food they will use and enjoy. Qualified families who live in Butler County can shop at the pantry once a month. We have a Spanish translator available each time we are open. We love to partner with local organizations to facilitate food drives.
Stepping Forward: this community outreach begins with a meal, music, and dinner conversation Our goal is to listen and hear with objective to move people forward whether it be emotionally, physically, spiritually, educationally, or economically. We are building community with the hope of supporting one another.
Upward Sports is a non-profit 501 organization that partners with churches in leveraging the power of sports to achieve and increase the impact of their mission. Six area churches participate in the Northern Cincinnati Upward Sports league basketball and cheer season.
Upward participants learn fundamentals through detailed and organized practices. They develop skills at each level of play. And grow from a win or a loss through healthy competition. Coaches demonstrate good sportsmanship, respect for the game, teams, officials, and parents. They teach the game through organized, detailed practices and games. The gameday experience focuses on fun and competition without a win-at-all-cost atmosphere. Everyone plays and you don't spend more time in the car than at the game. The officials are OHSAA certified for 3rd grade and up and trained volunteers for 2nd grade and under.
Volunteer Opportunities
Create Wildlife Holiday Decorations
Thursday, December 8, 6-8pm
Location: Butler SWCD office (1802 Princeton Rd Hamilton OH 45011)
See our website for more details at www.butlerswcd.org and sign-up here
Contact: Lara Williams, lara.williams@faithcommunityumc.org
Cart Runners
Tuesday 12:30pm-2pm
Tuesday 5:30pm-7pm
Saturday 9am-11am
Our cart runners transport the food from inside the pantry to each family’s car in grocery carts.
We ask the cart runners to be comfortable engaging in light conversation with our families when loading their groceries.
Shoppers
Tuesday 12:30pm-2pm
Tuesday 5:30pm-7pm
Saturday 9am-11am
Our shoppers work on the inside of the pantry to fill orders based on families’ selections when they visit the pantry. Our families make choices based on food availability and our shoppers will then “shop” for their groceries, bag them and load them in the grocery cart to be taken outside. This can be a fast-paced environment and requires handling of canned food, produce and frozen meat. To be a shopper, students must first serve as re-stockers and/or cart runners to become familiar with pantry operations.
Re-stockers
Hours: as needed during times when the pantry is not open
Our re-stockers play an instrumental role in operation of our food pantry. Re-stockers unload food from boxes and stock the shelves so that our pantry is ready for shopping. This role includes lifting and moving boxes of food.
Contact Kim Hollon, kim.hollon@faithcommunityumc.org
Tuesdays 5:30pm-8pm
Stepping Forward Community Dinner
Helping at the dinner involves a variety of tasks and can vary based on the Tuesday. Tasks may include:
Assist with setting up for the dinner—setting up tables and chairs, putting tablecloths and centerpieces on the tables
Helping in the kitchen with meal prep, food distribution, clean up
Eating dinner and joining our families in a time of fellowship
Assist with the cleanup from the dinner—removing tablecloths and centerpieces, wiping tables off, breaking down tables, putting away chairs
Helping with children’s activities after dinner—crafts, sports, games, etc.
Contact: Lynne Martini, lynne.martini@faithcommunityumc.org
Saturdays in January through Mid-March
Volunteer Opportunities at Faith Community Church includes
- Announcers
- Greeters
- Score Keepers
- Mascot
- Sound Board tech
- Picture Day – January 21st
- Sign-up to serve on a Saturday in January-March